Mathew Dietz Dr Joel Ward

Dr. Joel Ward is MercyOne Central Iowa’s Chief Medical Informatics Officer, having served the Des Moines centre for a little over six years. A physician at large, Dr. Ward is at the helm of digital transformation at MercyOne in areas of provider operations and workflows, as well as the overall maintenance of patient care at the centre. Speaking about the need for digital transformation at MercyOne, Dr. Ward added “As providers, we've pretty much dedicated ourselves to taking care of our patients. And our patients told us that what they needed at the time was a digital transformation.”

Matt Dietz joined MercyOne almost a year ago, at the very onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Division Director of Digital and Virtual Strategy, he brought along with him high-level strategies that drove MercyOne directly into the folds of a longstanding digital transformation. Although originally part of a longer roadmap of change, the pandemic accelerated the centre’s efforts into full gear, with Dietz at the driver’s seat. 
Their leadership style can be best defined as dynamic and invigorating, where both Dr. Ward and Dietz have made strides in bringing new technology to MercyOne, improving the quality of care for the patient through round-the-clock remote monitoring, as well as reducing provider burnout through the introduction of the virtual nurse program. MercyOne’s approach to change is one of fearlessness, with Dietz adding “There is no such thing as failure. Digital transformation is still new, and we try things out because we want to improve our current experiences. And if something doesn't work as we originally hypothesized it doesn't mean it's a failure, it means that we're learning, it gives us an opportunity to improve upon something and that's what excites us the most about digital transformation. It gives us not a reckless mindset, but it allows us to be fearless sometimes – to try things that we never thought we could before.”

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